A Chechen blogger who was reportedly killed this month gave court testimony in Germany in November, and the court where he appeared said that, to its "knowledge," he is still alive.
The comments, made to RFE/RL on December 11, corroborate news reports by Swedish Radio and German media that said Tumso Abdurakhmanov was alive, contradicting multiple reports earlier this week saying he had been killed. Anzor Maskhadov, a prominent leader of the Chechen diaspora, had also told RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service that Abdurakhmanov had been killed by several unknown assailants.
Swedish Radio and the German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine said a criminal court in Bavaria was hearing proceedings in a case involving a man who appeared to be Abdurakhmanov’s brother, Muhammad.
Responding to an e-mail from RFE/RL asking about the condition and whereabouts about Tumso Abdurakhmanov, Laurent Lafleur, a spokesman for the Munich Higher Regional Court, said he testified as a witness on November 8 and that "to the knowledge of the court, the witness you named is alive."
"The court has no information on the current whereabouts of the witness," he added. He gave no further details on the court proceedings.
Abdurakhmanov, a popular YouTube blogger who has been harshly critical of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, fled Russia in 2015 and was later granted political asylum in Sweden.
In February 2020, he appeared to fend off an attacker who broke into his home and attacked him with a hammer. Abdurakhmanov disarmed and beat his attacker, and showed the man's confession in a video he posted online.
In January 2021, two Russian citizens from Chechnya were sentenced to prison by a Swedish court for attempted murder in the case.
Earlier this month, reports circulated in Chechen diaspora communities that Abdurakhmanov had gone missing.
A Chechen opposition group called 1ADAT later reported that Abdurakhmanov had been killed and that his brother, Muhammad, was under the protection of Swedish police.
Abdurakhmanov's colleagues told RFE/RL's Russian Service that he had been shot dead, though a spokesman for Chechen separatists living in exile on December 9 said -- without giving evidence to back up his claim -- that Abdurakhmanov was "alive and under the protection of Swedish police."
Swedish police have repeatedly declined to comment on the case, telling RFE/RL and other media they had no information on any reported killings or investigations that had been prompted by media inquiries.
On December 9, Swedish Radio reported that Abdurakhmanov had been scheduled to testify in a case involving a man accused of trying to murder his brother.
The Bavarian court spokesman also told Swedish Radio that Tumso Abdurakhmanov was alive.
That report followed an earlier report in Augsburger Allgemeine that detailed ongoing court proceedings regarding an attempted murder case connected to Kadyrov. The case, according to the newspaper, involved a man named "Mokhmad A" and involved testimony from "Tumso A."